JP2017021466A - Computer program for user input support - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a computer program for user input support capable of minimizing a user operation to a touch panel that should facilitate a stamp input operation.SOLUTION: The computer program causes a user terminal to function as a visual field image generation part for generating a visual field image based on the arrangement of a character associated with one user in a virtual space, and displaying the visual field image in a display of a user terminal owned by the one user, a contact input part for selecting and inputting one piece of contact information to a plurality of candidates for contact information displayed in response to a tilting action of the user terminal, and a contact output part for overlapping the selected contact information on the visual field image to display the contact information on the display.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a computer program for user input support. More particularly, the present invention relates to a computer program for assisting a user to facilitate the input of contact information from a user terminal by each user when a virtual space is shared and interacted among a plurality of users. It is.

  It is known that a plurality of users share a virtual space and interact with each other by exchanging messages through online information transmission. For example, a message chat application using a smartphone is known, and an image chat using icon image information called a stamp as well as text information is used as a user's posted content.

  In addition, regarding the display of the user's posted content, there is known a method in which information input by each user in a virtual space is displayed in a balloon from a character (avatar) associated with the user. For example, in Patent Document 1, when displaying a post by a user who is following in SNS or the like, a post-display of the post contents of each follow user from a character is displayed on a space field screen displaying a character associated with each user. To do.

2012-018569

  In an online game using a smartphone, particularly in a battle-type online RPG in which a user can operate a character in the virtual space, it is assumed that the virtual space in the game is shared by a plurality of users. In this case, it is assumed that the image chat technique is applied as described above, and contact information such as text information and a stamp input by each user is displayed in a balloon from a character associated with the user.

  However, in the battle-type online RPG, in general, an input operation on the touch panel of a smartphone requires an immediate effect, whereas the operation for selecting contact information to be input by the user, particularly a stamp, is a lot of touches. Since it involves an operation, it is not appropriate to require the user to perform a conventional stamp input operation. In particular, since there are various types of stamps provided to users in recent image chats, it is not appropriate for the game progress of a competitive online RPG to allow the user to select a desired stamp from among them. .

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a computer program for user input support capable of minimizing user operations on the touch panel in order to facilitate such stamp input operation.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to the present invention, a field-of-view image based on an arrangement in a virtual space of a character associated with one user is generated and displayed on a display of a user terminal possessed by the one user. A field-of-view image generation unit, a contact input unit that selects and inputs one contact information for a plurality of contact information candidates displayed in response to the tilting motion of the user terminal, and a field of view of the selected contact information A computer program for supporting user input can be obtained that causes the user terminal to function as a contact output unit that is superimposed on an image and displayed on a display.

  The features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, as well as from the accompanying drawings and claims.

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a computer system for executing a computer program according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the user terminal shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram defining the angle of inclination with respect to the user terminal shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an example of a game screen in which the computer program according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied as a game application. FIG. 5 is a game screen of another example in which the computer program according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied as a game application. FIG. 6 is a detailed main functional block diagram related to the control unit of the user terminal shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a flow chart relating to an example interaction between the own user and the other user via the server system realized by the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart relating to contact information selection input processing implemented by a computer program according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a flowchart relating to contact information screen output processing implemented by a computer program according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a schematic image diagram of an example in which a contact information arrangement region is determined in a view image and the contact information is superimposed on the view image according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a schematic image diagram of another example in which the contact information arrangement region is determined in the view field image and the contact information is superimposed on the view field image according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a schematic image diagram of an example in which a balloon image containing contact information in a contact information arrangement area is generated and superimposed on a view field image according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of Embodiment of the Present Invention]
First, the contents of the embodiment of the present invention will be listed and described. A computer program for user input support according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises the following arrangement.

(Item 1)
A field-of-view image generation unit that generates a field-of-view image based on an arrangement of characters associated with one user in a virtual space and displays the field-of-view image on a display of a user terminal included in the one user;
A contact input unit for selecting and inputting one contact information for a plurality of contact information candidates displayed in response to the tilting motion of the user terminal;
A computer program for user input support that causes the user terminal to function as a contact output unit that superimposes the selected contact information on the field-of-view image and displays it on the display.
According to the computer program of this item, by displaying the contact information candidates in response to the tilting operation of the user terminal, the user can select from a large number of stamps without requiring many touch operations on the touch panel. A desired stamp can be appropriately selected and input. In particular, in the above-described competitive online RPG, it is possible to allow the user to input a stamp according to the game situation without hindering the progress of the game.

(Item 2)
In the contact output unit, a contact information arrangement area for superimposing the selected contact information is determined in the view image according to the arrangement of the character,
The computer program according to item 1, wherein the selected contact information is displayed together with a balloon image in the contact information arrangement area.

(Item 3)
The virtual space is shared with other characters associated with other users;
In the contact output unit, the other contact information selected by the other user is further superimposed on the view image based on the arrangement of the character associated with the one user and displayed on the display. The computer program according to 1 or 2.

(Item 4)
In the contact output unit, another contact information arrangement area for superimposing the selected other contact information is determined in the view image according to the arrangement of the other character,
4. The computer program according to item 3, wherein the other contact information is displayed together with a balloon image in the other contact information arrangement area.

(Item 5)
In the contact input unit, when the tilt information of the user terminal is detected by the tilt sensor included in the user terminal, and the tilt information indicates that the tilt state of a predetermined angle range is maintained for a certain time, 5. The computer program according to any one of items 1 to 4, wherein the computer program is specified as a tilting action and the candidate contact information is displayed on the display.

(Item 6)
The display is a touch panel;
In the contact input unit, the selection of the one contact information includes a user operation of sliding a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction together with an operation of touching the touch panel to specify the one contact information. 6. The computer program according to any one of 1 to 5.

(Item 7)
The computer program according to item 6, wherein the predetermined direction is associated with a tilt direction in a tilt operation of the user terminal.

(Item 8)
The computer program according to any one of items 1 to 7, wherein, in the contact input unit, the plurality of contact information candidates are determined according to character characteristics of the character.

(Item 9)
The computer program according to any one of items 1 to 8, wherein the contact information is a stamp image.

[Details of the embodiment of the present invention]
A computer program for user input support according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a computer system for executing a computer program for supporting user input according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows only the main components of the computer system. The computer system 100 includes user terminals 10-1 to 10-4 (hereinafter collectively referred to as “user terminals 10”) and a computer server 50, and a network 30 (particularly, an Internet network) between these elements. To communicate via. In the following, as an example, an online program in which the computer program according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied as a game program to a smartphone game to allow a plurality of users to communicate with each other in a shared game space (three-dimensional virtual space). Assume a game, particularly a battle-type online RPG in which each user can operate a character associated with himself / herself in a three-dimensional virtual space.

  The user terminal 10 may be any device that can use data sent from the computer server 50 and execute a program sent from the computer server 50 to generate and display a game image. For example, the user terminal 10 can be connected to the Internet. Including, but not limited to, mobile phones, smartphones, tablet terminals, game consoles, notebook PCs and the like. As illustrated, the user terminal 10 includes a terminal display unit 11, a terminal input unit 12, a terminal processing unit 13, a terminal communication unit 14, a terminal storage unit 15, and the like, which are electrically connected to each other via a bus. Is done.

  Data and programs received from the game server 50 by the terminal communication unit 14 are temporarily stored in the terminal storage unit 15, and a screen image is generated by the terminal processing unit 13 as the game progresses, and the terminal display unit 11. Is displayed. The terminal display unit 11 can be realized by, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) or the like, but is preferably configured as a touch display as will be described later with reference to FIG. The terminal input unit 12 inputs commands for controlling the operation of a virtual camera arranged in the three-dimensional virtual space, commands for general user actions for advancing the game, and inputs of contact information to the opponent character. carry out.

  Based on the input command received by the terminal input unit 12, the program is executed in the terminal processing unit 13. Alternatively, a user command is generated, and communication with the computer server 50 is performed through the terminal communication unit 14 and the network 30, and the program is executed by the computer server 50. The terminal storage unit 15 stores various data associated with the user terminal and applications such as a browser necessary for displaying the image data, and contact data such as stamp image data received from the game server 50, and a screen image. Various data such as data for generating and programs are also stored.

  On the other hand, the computer server 50 includes a processing unit 51, a main memory 52, an external memory 53, a user interface 54, a communication unit 55, a disk drive 56, and the like, which are electrically connected to each other via a bus. Is done. The processing unit 51 stores various data such as program modules stored in the external memory 53, user data stored in the disk drive 56, stamp image data, virtual space information, game progress data, and the like. The game progress is controlled by sequentially executing various computer programs. In particular, the processing unit 51 is configured to manage data and programs such as virtual space information to be shared among the user terminals 10 and provide the data to the user terminals 10 via the communication unit 55 as necessary. The user interface 54 is accessed by the administrator of the game server 50 to perform various server function settings and network settings.

  In addition, you may comprise so that the user terminal 10 may bear all or one part of the various functions as an information processing apparatus regarding the said computer server 50. FIG. In this case, the information processing apparatus is configured by the user terminal 10 itself, or the information processing apparatus is configured as a whole by combining the user terminal 10 and the computer server 50.

  As an example of the user terminal 10, FIG. 2 shows a block diagram relating to the basic configuration of a mobile terminal (particularly a smartphone) 10. As illustrated, the mobile terminal 10 includes a touch display 110, a control unit 140, and a storage unit 150 as a basic configuration. The touch display 110 includes a display unit / display 120 for displaying various data stored in the storage unit 150, and a touch operation (mainly, an object such as a human finger or a stylus on the display unit / display 120. A touch detection unit / touch panel 125 that detects a touch operation, a physical contact operation such as a swipe (slide) operation and a tap operation), and a tilt detection unit (tilt sensor) 130 that measures and detects the tilt of the mobile terminal. .

  The contact detection unit 125 is disposed on an upper layer of the display 120 such as a liquid crystal panel, an organic EL, a plasma display, etc. due to the structure of the touch display. The contact detection unit 125 may employ a pressure detection method, a resistance film method, a capacitance method, an electromagnetic induction method, or the like. When an input by contact of an object such as a finger or a stylus is received on the contact detection unit 125, a change amount of pressure, electrical resistance, capacitance, elastic wave energy, etc. is detected at the contact position, and the display unit 120 Corresponding contact coordinates are identified.

  The tilt detection unit (tilt sensor / angular velocity sensor) 130 will be described with reference to FIG. In the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, angle information is measured and detected over time by the inclination detector 130. With respect to the angle information, an XYZ coordinate system can be defined around the mobile terminal 10. The XYZ coordinates are relative coordinates with a predetermined timing as an initial state. More specifically, the surface of the touch display 110 of the mobile terminal 10 is the XY surface, and the vertical direction is the Z axis. In FIG. 3, the X axis and the Y axis are defined as shown on the assumption that the user operates the portable terminal 10 while holding it vertically. In the case of horizontal holding, the X axis and Y axis may be reversed. In the inclination detector 130, an angle around each axis, that is, a roll angle indicating rotation about the X axis, a pitch angle indicating rotation about the Y axis, and a yaw angle indicating rotation about the Z axis. Can be detected as angle information together with the rotation direction, and the tilt information of the portable terminal 10 can be determined based on temporal change data based at least on the detected angle information.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the control unit 140 is configured to operate the mobile terminal 10 by executing the computer program according to the embodiment of the present invention in accordance with a processing instruction from the terminal processing unit. Details of the control unit 140 will be described later with reference to FIG. The storage unit 150 stores the computer program, the game program, the data related to the user and the game, and the contact information data in general, and registers, updates, and deletes information according to instructions from the control unit Etc. are implemented. Note that the stamp image input through the computer program according to the present embodiment is also stored when the user downloads it from the server 50 to the mobile terminal 10.

  4 and 5, an outline of an example game content of an online action RPG to which the computer program according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described. Here, a plurality of users can share the same three-dimensional virtual space, and each can perform an action operation on its own character in the three-dimensional virtual space. In addition, each user can proceed with the game by performing an action operation on the character, and can perform a real-time chat such as text chat and image chat through the character simultaneously with the progress of the game. is there.

  4A and 4B are a series of game images displayed on the user screen of the user who operates the player character 1 (host user). Since the character to be associated is different for each user, the game screen displayed on the terminal is different for each user. Actually, the view image 3 in FIGS. 4A and 4B is an image displayed on the screen of the terminal of the own user based on the arrangement of the own character 1 (slightly above the center of the screen). On the other hand, the image displayed on the screen of the terminal of another user (an opponent user) who operates the opponent character 2 is a view image based on the arrangement of the opponent character 2 (slightly above the center of the screen), and the view image of the own user Is different.

  The own character 1 is displayed near the upper center of the view image 3 of the own user. That is, the arrangement of the player character 1 is aligned with a predetermined position range on the display screen. The user can move in the three-dimensional virtual space according to a user command through the terminal input unit. The own character 1 is associated with a virtual camera, and the virtual camera is disposed behind and above the own character in the three-dimensional virtual space (not shown) and operates to follow the movement of the own character. A view image 3 is generated based on the view area from the virtual camera of the player character 1 and displayed on the display of the terminal. Here, each character has a character characteristic 5 and is displayed at the lower left of the screen. Character characteristics 5 include, for example, character type, character image, character strength (hit points (HP: physical strength points of characters) and skill points (SP: skill points for delivering special moves)), etc. Is included.

  In the example of FIG. 4A, the opponent character 2 operated by the opponent user is located in the lower left part of the own character 1 and is reflected in the view image 3. Then, the own user 1 is calling from his user terminal in the three-dimensional virtual space by entering the contact information "Hello". As a result, as shown, it is "Hello" and balloon image 4 displayed text displayed from the player character 1 in field image 3 is displayed on the screen of the host user. Of course, also on the screen of the other user, the image balloon is text message "Hello" from the player character 1 is understood that to be displayed.

  When the own user moves his / her character 1 upward in a three-dimensional space, a visual field image as shown in FIG. 3B is displayed. In this case, the game progresses so that the opponent character 2 is away from the player character 1 and is located at the lower left of the screen. In addition, in FIG. 3 (b), in the form of the player character in Figure 3 (a) to respond to the call to "Hello" three-dimensional virtual space the contact information to be, "Take care partner users from its own terminal "?!?" Is input and transmitted to the 3D virtual space. As a result, the balloon image 4 with the text “How are you !?” from the opponent character 2 is also displayed in the view image 3 of the own user.

  In FIG. 4, the contact information transmitted to the characters sharing the game space is text information. However, as shown in FIG. 5, the contact information is a stamp such as an image chat (ie, generally, It may be an image (referred to as an icon). Further, the content to which the computer program according to the embodiment of the present invention can be applied is not limited to the game application, particularly the online action RPG as shown in FIG. According to an embodiment of the present invention, an application that communicates in a three-dimensional virtual space such as an SNS or an electronic bulletin board in which a plurality of users exchange messages or inform related users of their current status. It should be recognized that computer programs are widely applicable.

  FIG. 5 shows an aspect relating to stamp selection when the user transmits the stamp to the three-dimensional virtual space simultaneously with the progress of the game. First, in FIG. 5A, as described above, the player character 1 is displayed near the upper center of the user's field-of-view image 3, and the game is progressing in a state where the player character can be operated. When the user inputs a stamp from the state of FIG. 5A and transmits it to the three-dimensional virtual space, the user normally switches from “game progress mode” to “stamp input mode” by operating the terminal, After displaying the candidates, the user selects a desired stamp by a touch operation on the touch panel.

  In the computer program for supporting user input according to the embodiment of the present invention, switching from the “game progress mode” to the “stamp input mode” is very easy. More specifically, the user can shift to the “stamp input mode” only by tilting the user terminal in an arbitrary direction and maintaining the tilted state for a predetermined time. This is realized by detecting the tilt state of the terminal by the tilt detection unit 130. Even in the “stamp input mode” state, the user can proceed with the game as usual.

  When the mode is shifted to the “stamp input mode” by the computer program for user input support according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5B, for example, input stamp candidates (stamps ST1 to ST4) from the left side of the screen. And appear to the user. The user determines a stamp to be input from the presented stamp candidates. In order to select and input the determined stamp, the user touches the determined stamp (stamp ST1) on the screen as shown in FIG. 5C, for example, and continues to the right of the screen by a predetermined distance. Let the slide operation be performed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5D, the balloon image 4 on which the stamp ST1 is displayed from the player character 1 is reflected and displayed in the view field image 3 and transmitted to the three-dimensional virtual space. That is, it is transmitted to the opponent character 2.

  4 and FIG. 5, and referring to FIG. 6 and subsequent figures, a computer program for user input support according to the embodiment of the present invention, particularly the stamp image illustrated in FIG. Information processing related to output will be described in detail. FIG. 6 is a main functional block diagram implemented in the user terminal 10 in order to perform the processing, and the whole corresponds to the control unit 140 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 140 mainly includes a game progression unit 61, a contact input unit 71, and a contact output unit 91. The game progression unit 61 includes a player character movement control unit 611, a virtual camera control unit (view area determination unit) 613, and a view image generation unit 615. Further, the contact input unit 71 includes a tilting motion detection unit 711, a candidate determination display unit 713, and a candidate selection unit 715. Further, the contact output unit 91 includes a contact information arrangement region determination unit 911, a contact information generation unit 913, and a contact information superimposition unit 915. In addition to the above, the control unit 140 includes a contact receiving unit 81, a character arrangement determining unit 83, and the like. It should be noted that FIG. 6 only describes a minimum set of main functions for implementing a computer program according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Thus, referring to the flow chart of FIG. 7, an example of interaction between the own user and the other user's server system, implemented by the computer program for user input support according to the embodiment of the present invention. Processing will be described. Here, it is assumed that a message is exchanged via the server system between the user terminal of the own user a who can control the movement of the own character and the user terminal of the other user b who can control the movement of the opponent character. In the information processing illustrated in FIG. 7, first, virtual space information shared between users is distributed by the server system in step S1s, and the own user a and other user b receive virtual space information in steps S1a and S1b. By deploying, the virtual space is shared. Subsequent information processing mainly includes a game progress process (normal action game progress, upper half of FIG. 7) and a contact process (lower half of FIG. 7) related to the contact in space as the character moves in the space. The

  The game progress process accompanying the movement of the character in the space includes steps S2a to S4a by the user a, steps S2b to S4b by the opponent user b, and step S2s by the server system. In step S <b> 2 a, the own user “a” operates the own character by the own character movement control unit 611 to move in the three-dimensional virtual space. In step S3a, the virtual camera control unit 613 causes the virtual camera to follow the virtual camera as the character moves in the three-dimensional virtual space. Then, the visual field area associated with the arrangement of the character in the three-dimensional virtual space associated with the user is determined. Note that the movement information of the player character is preferably reflected on the server system one by one, periodically, or by any one or more of event triggers. That is, in step S2s, the virtual space information is updated with the position information of the player character by the server system. In step S4a, a visual field image is generated by the visual field image generation unit 615 based on the visual field region determined in step S3a and displayed on the display of the user terminal. The same applies to movement in space (steps S2b to S4b) by the opponent user b's opponent character.

  The contact processing related to the in-space contact includes steps S5a to S6a by the own user a, steps S5b to S6b by the partner user b, and step S3s by the server system. While the game progresses while the own character of the own user a and the opponent character of the opponent user b move while sharing the three-dimensional virtual space, in step S5a, the own user a makes the three-dimensional virtual space by the contact input unit 71. Send contact information inside. That is, the contact information illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 is transmitted to the user (partner user b) sharing the three-dimensional virtual space (detailed in FIG. 8). The contact information may be text information or stamp image information. The contact information to be transmitted is used for update processing of the spatial information on the server system side in step S3s, and then transmitted to the three-dimensional virtual space to notify both the own user a and the partner user b.

  On the user a side, in step S6a, the contact output unit 91 superimposes the balloon image containing the contact information transmitted by himself / herself on the field-of-view image based on the arrangement of the player character and displays it on the display (FIG. 9). On the partner user b side, in step S5b, the contact receiving unit 81 receives contact information from the own user a, and the character arrangement determining unit 83 specifies the arrangement position of the own character in the three-dimensional virtual space. Subsequently, in step S6b, the contact output unit 91 superimposes the balloon image containing the received contact information on the view image of the opponent user based on the arrangement of the own character and displays it on the display.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12, the information processing of steps S5a and S6a by the user a among the above will be described in detail. Among these, FIG. 8 is a detailed flow chart of contact input processing for transmitting a stamp image as contact information in step S5a of FIG. FIG. 8 corresponds to processing related to the series of screen images in FIG.

  In step S51a, the tilt motion detection unit 711 detects tilt information based on an operation of tilting the user terminal by the tilt sensor 130 included in the user terminal. If the tilt information indicates that the tilt state within the predetermined angle range is maintained for a certain period of time, the tilt information is specified, and the process proceeds to the next step S52a. In addition, as a condition for specifying the tilting operation, elements in a predetermined tilting direction (that is, from the angle information of the roll angle, the pitch angle, and the yaw angle shown in FIG. It is also possible to indicate that an inclination state within a predetermined angle range is maintained for a predetermined time with respect to a predetermined inclination direction. Further, the tilt information may be temporarily stored and used in the stamp candidate determination process in the subsequent step S53a.

  In step S52a, the process proceeds to the stamp input mode in response to the tilting operation of the user terminal in step S51a. Subsequently, in step S53a, the candidate determination display unit 713 determines a plurality of stamp candidates that can be input and displays them on the display. indicate. The stamp candidates may be dynamically selected from all or part of the stamps associated with the user and stored in the storage unit. Specifically, using the tilt information of the tilting operation stored at the time of the processing in step S51a, for a tilting motion in a specific direction, a stamp of a specific group associated in advance with the direction is adopted as a stamp candidate. May be. For example, four emotions of emotions may be associated with four directions of up, down, left, and right inclinations, and stamp groups may be associated in advance with each emotion as stamp candidates. Alternatively, character states determined according to character characteristics (such as HP and / or SP) (eg, “poison” mode, “numbness” mode, “drown” mode, “confused” mode, “skill can be activated” mode, etc.) Accordingly, a stamp of a specific group associated in advance may be used as a stamp candidate. Further, the display mode of the stamp candidates may be displayed in a predetermined display area, or may be dynamically determined according to the tilt direction in the tilt operation. For example, when the user terminal is tilted to the right in the tilting operation, a plurality of stamp candidates are displayed along the tilt from the left to the right of the screen as shown in FIG. 5B. May be.

  Next, in step S54a, the candidate selection unit 715 selects one stamp by receiving a stamp selection operation for a plurality of stamp candidates displayed on the display. The stamp selection operation can be associated with a slide operation on the touch panel. More specifically, the stamp ST1 is specified for the stamp candidate in FIG. 5B by a touch operation, and the user operation is to slide a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction as shown in FIG. 5C. Is good. The predetermined direction is preferably associated with the tilt direction in the tilt operation. When the stamp candidates are displayed along the inclination from the left direction to the right direction of the screen in FIG. 5B, the slide operation in the right direction is directly received as shown in FIG. 5C. It is good to do. Finally, in step S55a, in order to reflect the selected stamp in the three-dimensional virtual space as shown in FIG. 5D and notify the shared user, the stamp is input and transmitted to the server system.

  In the overall processing of FIG. 8, a stamp is assumed as contact information, but the same can be said for text information. That is, the user, for example, characters or speech input as "greeting", and by carrying out tilting operation of the terminal, and displays the text such as "Good morning", "Hello", "Goodbye" as a candidate for the contact information, the user May be selected by touch operation and slide operation. In any case, the computer program for assisting user input according to the embodiment of the present invention can select and input desired contact information from a large number of candidates as appropriate without interfering with the progress of the game. Can do.

  FIG. 9 is a detailed flow chart of the contact output process in which the selected contact information is superimposed on the view field image and displayed on the display in step S6a of FIG. 7, and the screen image output process of FIG. It corresponds to. 10 to 12 show schematic images related to the contact output process.

  In step S61a, the character arrangement determining unit 83 determines arrangement information in the three-dimensional virtual space of the character that has transmitted the contact information. Here, since the own user himself / herself entered the contact information, the position coordinates of the corresponding own character are determined. As in the example of FIG. 10A, the position of the player character should basically be the center of the view image. Subsequently, in step S62a, according to the determined arrangement information, the contact information arrangement area determination unit 911 determines a contact information arrangement area for superimposing contact information in the view field image. More specifically, the reference point in the view field image and the position and size of the contact information arrangement area are determined. The reference point is necessary for generating the balloon image, and although it is not limited to this, it is preferable to associate the reference point with the arrangement position of the character. For example, as shown in FIG. 10B, the position coordinates of the head of the player character may be adopted as the reference point. Further, the contact information arrangement area is an area that accommodates the balloon image. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 10B, the position and size of the contact information arrangement area are set according to the relative position of the reference point in the entire view image. It is good to decide.

  Here, as can be seen by referring to the example of FIG. 12, the contact information is displayed on the display together with the balloon image in the contact information arrangement area. The contact information arrangement area is preferably not displayed on the display. As illustrated, a balloon image is accommodated in the contact information arrangement area, and contact information (that is, stamp image (a) and text information (b)) is accommodated in the balloon image. Further, as shown in the figure, the balloon image includes a tip portion that is aligned with a reference point of the contact information arrangement region and a main body portion that accommodates the stamp image and text information, and is formed by combining them. .

  Returning to FIG. 9, in step S63a, the tip portion of the balloon image is aligned with the reference point in the view field image determined in step S62a. Next, in step S64a, the size of the main body portion is adjusted so that the main body portion of the balloon image is accommodated in the view field image, and then the main body portion is coupled to the tip portion. Needless to say, the shape of the main body portion is not limited to a rectangle as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, and may be, for example, a rounded round shape, a polygonal shape, or any other shape. Next, in step S65a, the display size of the contact information (that is, the size of the stamp) is adjusted based on the size of the main body portion adjusted in step S64a, and is accommodated in the main body portion. These steps S63a and S64a are performed by the contact information generation unit 913. Finally, in step S66a, the contact information superimposing unit 915 superimposes the contact information together with the balloon image on the view image and displays it on the screen as a game image as shown in FIG. 5 (d) or FIG. 10 (c). In FIG. 10C, the stamp image is arranged at the center in the contact information arrangement area. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the stamp image may be arranged in any location as long as it is accommodated in the area.

  In the example of FIG. 10, the user sends a stamp and displays it in a balloon for the player character. On the other hand, the example of FIG. 11 is an example in a case where contact information is selected and transmitted by another partner user who shares the three-dimensional virtual space. Also in this case, first, as shown in FIG. 11A, the arrangement information of the opponent character in the three-dimensional virtual space is determined (step S61a), and according to the arrangement information, as shown in FIG. A reference point and a contact information arrangement area for displaying contact information in the field-of-view image based on the arrangement of the player character are determined (step S62a). Then, as shown in FIG. The contact information is superimposed on the balloon image and displayed on the display (steps S63a to S66a).

  In the above, the computer program for user input support by embodiment of this invention was demonstrated with the various examples. The above-described embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention can be changed and improved without departing from the gist thereof, and it is needless to say that the present invention includes equivalents thereof.

Claims (9)

A field-of-view image generation unit that generates a field-of-view image based on an arrangement of characters associated with one user in a virtual space and displays the field-of-view image on a display of a user terminal included in the one user;
A contact input unit for selecting and inputting one contact information for a plurality of contact information candidates displayed in response to the tilting motion of the user terminal;
A computer program for user input support that causes the user terminal to function as a contact output unit that superimposes the selected contact information on the field-of-view image and displays it on the display. In the contact output unit, a contact information arrangement area for superimposing the selected contact information is determined in the view image according to the arrangement of the character,
The computer program according to claim 1, wherein the selected contact information is displayed together with a balloon image in the contact information arrangement area. The virtual space is shared with other characters associated with other users;
The contact output unit further displays other contact information selected by the other user on the display, superimposed on the view image based on the arrangement of the character associated with the one user. Item 3. The computer program according to item 1 or 2. In the contact output unit, another contact information arrangement area for superimposing the selected other contact information is determined in the view image according to the arrangement of the other character,
The computer program according to claim 3, wherein the other contact information is displayed together with a balloon image in the other contact information arrangement area.   In the contact input unit, when the tilt information of the user terminal is detected by the tilt sensor included in the user terminal, and the tilt information indicates that the tilt state of a predetermined angle range is maintained for a certain time, 5. The computer program according to claim 1, wherein the computer program is specified as a tilting operation and the candidate contact information is displayed on the display. The display is a touch panel;
The selection of the one contact information in the contact input unit includes a user operation of sliding a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction together with an operation of touching the touch panel to specify the one contact information. The computer program according to any one of 1 to 5.   The computer program according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined direction is associated with a tilt direction in a tilt operation of the user terminal.   The computer program according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of contact information candidates are determined according to character characteristics of the character in the contact input unit.   The computer program according to claim 1, wherein the contact information is a stamp image.